From Glenn Usdin's FireTruckBlog.com, the story on Saturday of San Bernardino County, California's Medic Squad 71 being hit by a car as the crew was returning from quarters. Click here.

Do you want to sell a vehicle? Click HERE to find out how withSellFireTrucks.com.

Glenn Usdin's FireTruckBlog.com has the story from Middletown, New York of an assistant chief's SUV and a town police officer's car colliding. They were responding to a fire at the fire chief's home. Click here. 

In Galveston County, Texas last night, a Dickinson fire truck on the way to a wires arcing call slid off a crumbling, freshly paved road into a ditch and turned onto its side. The chief of the department called it a "slow roll". One firefighter was hurt.

There is much more apparatus news for you at Glenn Usdin's FireTruckBlog.com. The featured article today is video of Pierce's new Dash CF unveiled yesterday at FDIC in Indianapolis. Click here for that story, some used rigs for sale and the rest of what's happening in the world of apparatus.

Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has been staying on top of the crash Saturday of Youngstown, Ohio’s Squad 33. The site has links to fireground audio and new pictures of the damage following the rollover. Click here.

Check out FireTruckBlog.com for a more extensive interiew with police & the little girl’s grandfather

Kansas City, Missouri Fire Apparatus Operator Jeffrey Smith lost the lower part of his leg after the engine he was driving hit a tree and a utility pole just a short distance from Station 42.  Police say Smith made the choice to swerve to the right to avoid running over the vehicle that crossed the center line and caused the wreck. Inside that car, a mother and her 3-year-old daughter, who police say was not secured in a car seat.

From WDAF-TV:

“(He) went very hard to the right side of the road to avoid a head on collision with this woman’s vehicle,” said Sgt. Bill Mahoney of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. “There’s probably a pretty good chance that she and the 3 year old who was improperly restrained would have been seriously injured or killed.” 

Police arrested the mother and held her in jail overnight. She has been released and charges are pending.

Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com, which first brought us this story Tuesday, has more details, including an interview with the grandfather of the little girl. Click here.

Click here for more on this story from FireTruckBlog.com

A woman is suspected of DUI with a three-year-old child in the car and a firefighter may lose his leg or foot. That’s the bad news from Kansas City, Missouri this evening. FireTruckBlog.com and Firefighter Nation were first with the story shortly after the 1:50 PM crash. Since then the firefighter has been identified as Fire Apparatus Driver Jeff Smith, a 21-year veteran of the Kansas City Fire Department.

Smith was at the wheel of the fire engine as it left Station 42 on East Red Bridge Red responding on a medical call. The rig didn’t get far.

Here’s more from KSHB-TV:

Kansas City Fire Department spokesperson Joe Vitale said the fire truck and a car collided head-on. The fire truck then crashed into a utility pole, which knocked down electrical lines on top of the fire truck.

Kansas City Fire Department Station 42 is just around the bend in this Google Maps Street View image. The arrow shows where the rig ended up. Click the photo to tour the area.

Preliminary findings suggest that the female driver of the car was driving under the influence and crossed over the median, according to police. The Kansas City Police Department will investigate the crash.

The child was not injured and the woman’s injuries are not life threatening.

Authorities said the firefighter in serious, but stable condition.

Most of the damage was sustained to the driver’s side of both vehicles.

Satellite view of the same area showing fire station and crash scene.

More apparatus news from FireTruckBlog.com

Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has the raw video from Warren, Michigan where four firefighters walked away with minor injuries this afternoon after a tractor-trailer collided with their engine. Click here for the video and the details.

Mike Legeros picture from Legeros.com at scene of Raleigh Fire Department crash.

FireTruckBlog.com on NY fire chief’s ticket over blocking the road

My friend Mike Legeros took the picture above Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina after Raleigh Fire Department Engine 1 was struck by a car on Interstate 440 north of Hammond Road. Mike described the wreck this way at his Legeros.com (where you will see many more pictures):

Engine 1 struck by passenger vehicle while blocking for Engine 2 at accident scene. E1 personnel were inside apparatus at the time of collision and not injured. Driver of passenger vehicle transported by EMS 8 with reportedly non-life threatening injuries. Engine 3 dispatched to block scene of secondary accident.

Just as we saw in Stratford, Connecticut on I-95 in early January when two fire engines were hit by two different tractor-trailers at the same incident, using the big fire trucks as barriers works.

But still, not everyone is getting the message. Yesterday morning on Long Island, North Merrick Fire Chief Jimmy Allen understands the concept well. The chief also knows that it isn’t acceptable when an incident is in the center lane of a highway to have cars driving by in both the right and left lanes. But a New York State trooper apparently knows better. According to Chief Allen he was given a ticket and threatened with arrest when he failed to unblock the right lane while the scene was still active.

Glenn Usdin looks at what happened between the chief and the trooper and a number of other relevant incidents. It is well worth the time to read Glenn’s commentary at FireTruckBlog.com.

Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com has what is really the story of the weekend. Stratford, Connecticut’s Engine 1 and Engine 5 may be down for the count but a half-dozen firefighters are walking around. The rigs were positioned to protect the crews working a crash on I-95 Friday evening. And protect they did, as two tractor-trailer drivers lost control on the snowy highway. Click here for the details and links to pictures.

Glenn Usdin’s FireTruckBlog.com looks at the lawsuit filed by an insurance company in connection with the January 2009 death of Lt. Kevin Kelley. Lt. Kelley was killed when Boston Fire Department’s Ladder 26 lost its brakes and slammed into a building. The company insures the Mission Hill apartment complex the rig hit. The suit is against the City of Boston and six truck maintenance shops. Lt. Kelley’s family has also filed suit against the same inspection and repair shops. Click here for the coverage from FireTruckBlog.com.